2 states' gay-nuptials bans tossed

32 states file briefs asking Supreme Court to take up subject

By MICHAEL TARM The Associated Press

Posted: September 5, 2014 at 3:04 a.m.

MICHAEL CONROY
Credit: AP
In this June 25, 2014 file photo Bart Peterson, left, and Pete McNamara are married by Marion County Clerk Beth White in Indianapolis after a federal judge struck down a state ban on same-sex marriage. Same-sex marriage bans in both Indiana and Wisconsin were overturned in June and then appealed by the attorneys generals of both states. A U.S. appeals court in Chicago ruled Thursday, Sept. 4, 2014 that gay marriage bans in Wisconsin and Indiana violate the U.S. Constitution thereby bumping the number of states where gay marriage will be legal from 19 to 21.

A U.S. appeals court ruled that gay-marriage bans in Wisconsin and Indiana violate the U.S. Constitution on Thursday, the same day that 32 states asked the Supreme Court to settle the issue once and for all.